


Rescue me

by PerriewinkleNerdie



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23160526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie
Summary: A dangerous situation just got even worse
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 63





	Rescue me

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello, hello!  
> Open Heart continues to wreck me, thank you very much. I tried to write fluff, I swear I did, but PB makes is so damn difficult. Maybe next one...  
> Enjoy! <3

Ethan’s legs dragged behind him as he walked back to the hospital. He didn’t expect to see his Dad that day, let alone for him to meet Claire. The idea terrified him, and he wasn’t even sure why.

_Maybe because you talk about her all the time with him and if she finds out, she’ll see right through your bullshit of a barrier._

Deep down he knew that he shouldn’t want to run to her and tell her everything. He shouldn’t want to get closer to her again. Oh, who was he kidding, he couldn’t even fool himself. He was far too gone with her, he could try all he wanted to get away from her, but it wouldn’t change anything. It was futile, and after Claire left him alone with his father, he could see it in his eyes too.

The artificial lighting of the hospital greeted him upon entering, his feet carrying him to his office, where he knew she most likely was. The blinds were up, allowing him to see through the glass walls. That’s how his eyes found her, slumped over the table, deep in the article she was reading. Piles of books were a medical fortress around her, letting through just enough light from the windows to illuminate the pages she was focusing on.

It was his office. He shouldn’t be afraid to walk into his own office. Yet, here he was, hesitating, his hand itching to knock, to announce himself, to let her know that he was there. In another universe, he would stroll in there, take a seat next to her and stroke her hand while she studies. In the universe he lived in, all he could do was just get inside and ask her to walk with him to their patient.

Her head shot up and back towards him, her eyes growing wide with what he could only guess could be happiness. _Happiness to see him?_ She closed the book she was reading with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders helplessly. A soft line on her forehead appeared, the one he knew was there when she was getting frustrated. The familiar itch to smooth it out returned to his fingers.

“Come on, let’s see how Lamar’s doing.” Ethan’s lips curved upwards slightly when she joined him by his side, a fraction of her body’s heat reaching his skin, warming him up pleasantly.

Their walk was silent, at least on the outside. In his head, he thought of every possible way he could either stop himself from wanting her or find a way to have her. This was exactly what he meant when he said they couldn’t be together. Exactly what he meant when his brain kept screaming at him that Clarissa Herondale was dangerous. She was addictive, at least to him she was.

He let her enter the room first, walking behind her. Maybe that was why he registered that something wasn’t right with a second or two of delay. The bed was empty, but their patient couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air, could he?

“Ethan… in his condition, Lamar’s a danger to himself. We’ve gotta find him.” Claire’s voice got steadier as she spoke, her posture got straighter and her whole being became more confident. With mutual agreement in their eyes, they broke into a sprint, passing the halls as carefully and as quickly as he could. He heard his voice calling out for security when one of the nurses screamed, grabbing their attention.

“Up there!”

Claire’s head snaps upwards almost at the same time as his. High above them, on the forth floor, he can make out a shape of a person, climbing the railing. A cold shiver ran down Ethan’s spine as the reality set in.

“That fall will kill him! Dammit, come on!” he cursed loudly, calling out for Claire, but she was already running, taking three steps at the time, racing with time and her own body. He didn’t waste another second, following her, at least one floor behind her.

“Lamar, please… what are you doing?! You’ll get hurt!” Liz pleaded with her husband, her hand extended towards him. He grinned, shaking his head at her.

“What are you talking about? We’ve done this a thousand times!” his eyes shift to Claire, who was fast approaching him, then smiles even wider. “Alex! Come on, you’re not a chicken, are you?”

“I’m not chicken. You’re the one who’s chicken. I found a much cooler place to jump.” She tried to keep her voice level, tried not to give away how scared for him she was.

“Seriously? Where?” he asked, curious, then threw one leg over the railing. A heavy feeling in Claire’s chest began to dissipate. 

“Come on, it’s this way. I’ll show you.” speaking slowly, she extended her hand towards him with a flicker of panic in her voice.

“Alright, fine. But it better be as good as you say.”

He took her hand and pulled, probably expecting to be dragged over the banister, towards safety. What he didn’t consider was how physics worked. A result was worse. So, so much worse. Claire’s hand, instead of helping Lamar get back onto the stairs, got pulled by him towards the railing. The velocity and the rapidness of the move yanked her forward, causing her to stumble over the banister.

With what seemed to her like the last of her energy, she grabbed the ledge of the glass screen with her second hand and hung on. She wasn’t an idiot; she knew that looking down right now, especially given the fact that she was afraid of heights, would cause her to faint and fall. So instead, she focused on the glass beneath her skin and the depth of her breaths, muttering in her head how it was all going to be alright.

Her panic didn’t allow her to hear Liz screaming when she saw the doctor fall over the banister. Didn’t allow her to see Lamar’s confusion when security pulled him away, as gently as they could in the situation he caused. And she certainly couldn’t hear the cry of absolute horror that escaped Ethan’s lips when he saw her disappear from his field of vision.

“Claire!” he exclaimed, moving up the stairs faster than ever before in his life. His muscles protested, his lungs screamed, but none of that mattered at that point. If he didn’t get to her soon, she would fall and die.

Or maybe she was already dead, and he just didn’t let himself admit that.

Regardless, he stopped next to a shaken Liz, then looked down into the atrium. His eyes met her green ones, full of pain and fear. His chest felt tighter, his breaths getting shallower, causing him to get lightheaded. He knew the signs of a panic attack when he saw one, and he knew that he was beginning to have one right this moment.

His hands grabbed her arms and pulled, desperate to get her back into his arms, back to safety. Back to where he knew he could protect her. As soon as she was on the good side of the railing, he fell onto the floor, Claire in his arms, and he felt like he could breathe again. 

“Dr. Herondale- I- I’m so s-sorry I d-don’t know how-“ Liz jumped to their side, sobbing and shaking, unable to control her emotions. Claire leaned away from Ethan, grasping Liz’s hand tightly.

“Don’t worry about it, we’re all fine. Do you think you can answer a few questions for me?” she spoke clearly, much to calmly for Ethan’s liking. When Liz nodded, she turned towards her fully, focusing on her. “Who’s Alex?”

“I have no idea…” Liz breathed deeply, still shakily, but she was visibly less panicked. Claire patted her hand sympathetically, then stood up slowly. Ethan immediately followed, keeping himself close to her.

“I… think I might know what’s wrong with him.” she muttered, walking away without another glance at the place that could have been the last thing she ever saw.

Ethan ran after her, catching up to her in the middle of the stairs. He touched her elbow delicately, making her stop in her tracks to look at him. He didn’t have to say anything, his pleading eyes were all she needed to know. Nodding gently, she wrapped her hand around his arm and allowed him to escort her back to his office for a moment of peace.

June and Baz were there when they arrived, but one glance at Ethan’s distraught expression and they both left, without so much as a word spoken. Claire walked over to the couch and sat down, her teeth chewing her bottom lip with passion. He couldn’t tell if it was a sign of her discomfort, her anxiety or the signal that the reality finally caught up to her. It definitely meant something else in literally any other circumstance than this. He’s seen her to it before, countless of times. When she was focused, when she was happy, when she was just fine, when she was intrigued. When she seemed to be falling for him.

_Out of all of them, that one stuck in your head, didn’t it, Ramsey?_

Something wasn’t adding up for him. It might have been the initial shock of the situation that didn’t let go yet, that prevented her from breaking down. Or maybe she was even stronger than he thought she was, and she would just get over it. From his perspective, he was sure of one thing.

He wouldn’t get over it.

Ethan could count on the fingers of his one hand the times in which he was terrified. He could still see it when he closed his eyes, the moment he realized that his Mother wasn’t coming home. The sheer pain in his Dad’s eyes, the emptiness of the house when they came back home and all her things were gone. He wished he could say that he was over it, but the truth was, he didn’t think it was possible for him to ever forget that feeling.

The moment he realized something was wrong with Naveen. The look on his face when he begged him not to say anything to anyone. The sharp pain, like a stab to his chest, at the mere thought of losing another parent. And the moment he realized he couldn’t help him. The moment he realized he would be alone once again, abandoned, but not in the same way.

The moment he knew that Dolores’s life was in danger. He didn’t have many friends, and even the ones he had seemed to be taken away from him, one by one. The sting in his eyes when he realized that she was dead, really gone, forever. The pain he felt when he saw little Ethan, alone in the big, cold world, without the person that would give it to him on a silver platter.

The desperation he felt when he heard of Claire’s hearing. She wasn’t a person he planned on getting close to. Looking back at it, he didn’t give himself a chance to back out of this, he never even stopped to think what that would mean for both of them, and when he finally did hit the brakes, it was already too late. He remembered being furious with Harper for forbidding him from testifying for Claire, but now he was realizing that she knew how he felt months before he did. She always was the smart one.

And now this. Possibly the worst fifty seconds of his life. He was pretty sure his heart stopped when he saw her get thrown over the railing, and then went into cardiac arrest when he reached her and saw her there. Helpless, tired and scared. He would never forget the look in her eyes, and how it morphed into one of calmness and security when she knew that he was there.

_How was she so goddamn calm?_

She was staring off, her gaze locked on the wall, like she wasn’t even there. He felt as though he could walk up to her and try to touch her, and his hand would pass right through her. Despite all that, he decided to not join her on the couch just yet. He needed a moment to sort through his own thoughts or they would overwhelm him.

_3…2…1…_

The first sign of tears approaching was the stinging sensation in the back of his eyes. His lower lip trembled, his vision got blurry, but despite all of that, he still tried to maintain the last pieces of his composure. Walking over to her, after all, he sat down, their bodies lining up with one another, the brushes of heat flowing between them. He felt a rush of electricity pass from her to him, or maybe it was from him to her, he wasn’t sure. He needed to stop thinking about what just happened, or he would lose it.

_Too late._

The first tear trickled down his cheek, silently, easy to overlook, easy to forget it was even there. Second and third ones were louder, bolder. They demanded attention. Landing on the smooth skin on her hand with a sound that no one would ever hear, they accomplished what they wanted. Almost instantly, Claire’s hands ran to her face, wiping furiously the tears that were simply not there. Confused, and maybe a bit scared of what she would see when she looked at him, she slowly trailed her gaze up his chest, along the column of his neck, until she reached his face. A quiet gasp slipped past her lips when she saw how many trails of wetness were visible on his features, and how many more were being made or were about to be made. With a choked whisper of his name, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down so he lied down with his head on her lap.

It wasn’t right. He was the one that was supposed to be comforting her, not the other way around. But here he was, sobbing into the fabric of her pants, unable to stop the flow of feelings and emotions once they started.

“I almost lost you.” he managed to mutter without suffocating on his limited supply of oxygen in his lungs, but the words were like a punch to the gut for her. Up until this point, she didn’t think about it that way.

She could have died. She could have fallen from the fourth floor and be nothing more than a bloody corpse on the crisp white floor of the Edenbrook atrium. And Ethan would have to look it all in the eye and accept the new reality. And they would never get a chance to see where that ever so present feeling they got when they were near would lead them. She would never tell him how much she needs him.

He felt something hit his cheek. Then again, and again. When he turned to look up at her, he realized that the reality finally caught up to her. She was looking down at him with the most complex stare he’s ever seen, so intense that it made him sit up. His hand slowly rose to her cheek, wiping the tears away from her skin, tracing small patterns there. His other hand rested on her knee, an anchor of sorts, something that would keep him grounded, come what may.

Her movements were very much similar to his, but seemed more wanting, filled with more need. Need to touch, need to feel, need to have him close. One hand on the back of his neck, another on his side. And they held onto each other like drowning people held onto their lifelines.

Their forehead touched, softly at first, neither expecting the contact, causing them to stumble backwards for a split second before leaning back in. The peaceful comfort, the quietness of the room and a sense of stability, even if only momentarily, was enough to bring the calm after the storm has passed.

“I could have died. Without telling you-“ she whispered, her tone desperate and urgent, before she bit her tongue, closing her eyes in defeat. There it was. Again.

_That goddamn barrier of yours, Ramsey. You’re going to trip and die because of it one of those days._

Ethan was never sure how it happened, but it seemed as though it all followed the same path, every time they’ve been there. His every coherent thought leaves him as soon as he gets close to her, and then they come back, right as he is about to let himself get exactly what he knows would make him happy. Deep, deep down, he knew that she was what he wanted, what he needed, but his rational thoughts were closer to the surface, and he didn’t even have the chance to entertain the idea properly. Not when he was with her, at least.

_Screw the barrier._

He leaned towards her, pulling her into him at the same time. Their lips pressed against one another, barely touching, testing the waters. They didn’t have much time, and they probably shouldn’t be kissing in the office which had glass walls and where the blinds were up, but at that exact moment, he was beyond caring about all of that.

He kissed her. Really kissed her. Poured all of his pent-up emotions and feelings into it, hoping and praying that she would get them. She did. And she reciprocated them in earnest. Even if they couldn’t act on them anytime soon, they always had this moment. Right here, right now.


End file.
